Butterflies
AprilOneil
< babe would u be ok with meeting my best friend >
Hockey-god
< yeah ofc >
< when >
AprilOneil
< likeeee >
< after school since we have art club >
Hockey-god
< ok ill b there >
AprilOneil
< :D >
—
Casey Jones smiled at his girlfriend’s text, grabbing his headphones from his locker, and connected them to his phone, turning on some music. Vultures by ICP blasted in his ears immediately. The boy grinned, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, and made his way over to the other side of the school building, where his girlfriend’s Art Club was hosted.
As soon as the boy stepped outside of the building, to take a shortcut, wind blew into his face, making his shoulder-length dark hair get everywhere. Casey sighed and grabbed a dark blue hairtie (that he stole from April) and put his hair into a short ponytail.
He eventually made his way to the other side of the school; a large poster, decorated with paints and stickers hung next to the art room’s door. It read, “Art club:” printed out, then under it, handwritten with a sharpie, “Today! First thing after school”. Casey smiled as he read April’s, along with a few other peoples’ signatures at the bottom of the poster.
April O’Neil’s Head perked up as she heard someone walk into the classroom. “Casey!” She practically screeched, throwing her arms around him. Her boyfriend grinned widely, and hugged April back. “Oh! You gotta meet Raph- I think ya know his sisters,” She said, letting go. The redhead grabbed his wrist, and led him over to the table she’d previously been sitting at.
“Everyone!” April announced. “This is Casey Jones, my boyfriend!” Casey glanced around at the kids sitting at April’s table. A girl, who he recognized as Irma, drawing on an Ipad with a stylus. A kid that was in his science class, doing linework on a traditionally-draw sketch. The last kid made Casey’s cheeks warm.
A bored-looking male, who gave him a small nod. The kid had shoulder-length dreadlocks, dyed a fading red at the tips, pulled into a tight ponytail, showing off his several ear piercings, a few shorter pieces of hair laying loose on his forehead. He had on a Christian Death t-shirt, and some greyish baggy sweatpants, almost covering his shoes, making it hard for Casey to tell which ones the boy was wearing. He had on a few bracelets, one beaded with red, orange, green, blue, and purple. The other was one of those braided ones you’d make at camp, made with a light pinkish orange yarn.
Casey stared at him for a moment too long. He saw April looking at him questioningly, so he quickly tore his eyes from the kid. “..Okay, well, y’know Irma, and next to her is Ryan, and next to him is Raphael!” She chirped. Raphael, the boy Casey thought was cute, chimed in, “Call me Raph. Only my dad calls me Raphael,” He said.
April rolled her eyes, then remembered something. “Oh! You know his sisters!” She said, turning to Casey. Casey shrugged. His girlfriend sighed, “Aren’t they in the musical with you? Backstage?” She questions. Raph let an “Oh!” Then looked at Casey. The boy felt his face getting red. “Lea and Kari,” He paused, then corrected himself, “Leona and Karai.” Immediately, the two sisters appeared in Casey’s mind. Come to think of it, they had talked about their (very annoying) brothers’ pretty frequently.
“Wait, does that mean ya got four siblings?” Casey asked, mouth agape. Raph nodded, “Sadly. But I manage,” He said, taking out a thick pencil case, and starting a fresh sketch. “Oh, right.” Raph looked up from his paper. “Do I have yer consent to draw you, Jones?”
For some reason, how Raph said his name made Casey’s stomach turn. The boy nodded meekly. April sat down, side eying Casey because of his behavior. Casey didn’t want to be weird and sit next to Raph, so he sadly, though he didn’t know why he was sad, took his place next to April, and took out his laptop, opening his messages to a friend of his, Jason.
—
Hockey-god
< oh my god >
< dude get online rn >
Geck0oz
< bro what >
Hockey-god
< my gf introdused me 2 her friend n he is so fine >
Geck0oz
< so cool man >
< that was sarcasm btw >
Hockey-god
< anyways.. >
< do yk raphael?? >
< hes the guy >
Geck0oz
< wait fr >
< the kid w the red tips on his hair?? >
Casey blushed a bit, as he glanced over to Raph’s hair, making eye contact for a few awkward seconds.
Hockey-god
< rejsiekshksheh i js looked at him >
< but like >
< i think i like him >
Geck0oz
< dude im dating his brother >
Hockey-god
< him and mike r broehters?? >
< brothers* >
< they don’t look anything alike dude >
Gecko0oz
< ikr >
That was the last message on the topic, before Jason, or Gecko, as Mikey called him, started rambling about a movie he wanted to see.
Even though Jason was off the topic, Casey wasn’t. In between messages, he’d sneak glances at Raphael, his face warming and feeling giddy. He’d never felt like this with April, Casey realized suddenly. He sent her a slightly sad glance.
April was doodling away, in her sketch book. You could see the bits of watercolors or marker from the last page bleeding though the paper. Casey’s eyes lingered on it for a bit too long, before feeling the light vibrate of his computer, meaning that Jason had respond.
And his response could basically be summed up to: “You like Raph and ur bi”. But Casey didn’t want to like Raph. At least not in that way. Not when he and April had a happy relationship.
But was he really happy? He questioned himself, preparing a response in his head before responding to Jason. Casey’s response could be summed up to a simple: “No”.
“Hey, Case, time ‘ta go!” April said, suddenly appearing behind her boyfriend. He jumped, scared she’d seen his texts. “Oh. Okay, you scared me, April,” Casey tried to fake-laugh, as he packed up. The redhead giggled with him. Everyone, including Raphael, filed out of the classroom. “I’m gonna leave youuuuu,” April sighed as she walked up to the doorway. Casey’s eyes widened and he quickly shoved his things into his bag. “Shit, can’t have my cab driver leave me here,” The boy said. April rolled her eyes, “Please, I wouldn’t drive a cab! I’m definitely a limousine driver,” she said jokingly. Casey faked-laughed again. April didn’t seem to notice.
The couple were silent on their way home. But that way okay with Casey, because he had a lot to think about.
The dark-hair boy had questioned whether he was bisexual or straight a lot. He pretty much always came to the conclusion of “I like who I like,” and stuck with that. But now, thinking of Raph, it was more than what Casey had ever felt for April. Yeah, he obviously loved her, but didn’t feel as happy when he thought of her, than when he thought of Raph. But maybe he just had a stronger crush on Raph? He’d never had a crush on a guy before. Hell, before April, he’d never liked a girl either.
Casey let in a shallow breath, then let out a long one, counting the seconds it took to breathe out. Exactly eight. Casey glanced over at April, who was too focused on the road to notice her boyfriend. He wondered if there was someone she liked more than him.
Casey turned back to the window, and thought about Raphael. Nothing in particular, just the quick glances of the boy from throughout the club meet. Casey smiled.
Eventually, April got him home. Casey thanked her briefly, before she sped off. He sighed. A small buzz from his pocket pulled his attention. The boy grabbed his phone and checked the notification.
RedRage
< hey its raph >
< aprils friend w the red hair >
< got ur number from Mikey btw >
< hes my brother >
Casey felt a thick blush appear on his face as he grinned at the screen, giddily typing away his response to ‘RedRage’.